Momon's Bizarre Adventure
by decoy134
Summary: As the Sorcerous Kingdom makes its debut on the international stage, the Slane Theocracy schemes to enlist the ultimate adamantite plate adventurer: Momon the Black, through a request to investigate the Sunken City. However, Ainz has no idea what's going on. As a last resort, Ainz sends out Pandora's Actor to take his place and somehow salvage something out of this travesty.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: A majority of the first half of this prologue is a summary of certain events which take place in Overlord Volume 10, as well as other spoilers up to that point**

The innermost reaches of the Slane Theocracy. Very few people were allowed into this inviolable sanctum. The first was the highest-ranked member of the Theocracy: The Pontifex Maximus. Next were the Cardinals, the appointed leaders of the sects devoted to the Six Gods. Each Cardinal was a candidate to be the next Pontifex Maximus.

In addition, there were the heads of the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch of the Theocracy's government. There was the head of the Magic Research Institute. Finally, there was the Grand Marshal, the man in charge of the military.

These 12 people comprised the highest authorities of the Slane Theocracy and they sat together at a round table. And their topic-

The advent of the Sorcerous Kingdom, led by the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown. Just a fortnight prior, the Kingdom's Fortress City of E-Rantel and its surrounding areas were seized and made into the heart of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Few people knew the details of the situation. Most of what they knew was little more than hearsay. For starters, they knew that the Sorcerer King was an undead creature, that he was an extremely powerful magic caster who had obliterated the Royal Army, that he controlled an army of undead, that there was a Death Knight among those undead, and so on. Indeed, the people in this room had assembled to hear the details of what exactly had occurred.

But now all they could do was clutch their heads under the weight of despair.

What they discovered exceeded their imagination, like a nightmare born in hell had wormed its way to earth.

Feeling that this could not be allowed to go on, Ivon raised a question:

"I see, I see. ...You were afraid our hearts would stop if we saw this first, right?"

"Not really."

The organizer of this meeting, the Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zag Lauransan. After receiving the report from Thousand Miles Astrologer, he had hesitated to share the unabridged details of it with the others.

"Your hearts are strong enough to sprout hair. I was simply afraid that if I opened with this, none of you would believe it."

Ivon nodded, unable to refute that.

"It's true that we would have doubted this if we had seen this first. We would not have believed it at all. But after understanding the reality of the Sorcerer King's army, we have no choice but to believe."

"Still… I don't want to believe this. With just one spell, he killed over half of the Royal Army. During this battle, the Kingdom mobilized 260'000 men. Half of that would be at least 130'000 people, right? I heard the Royal Army was defeated, but this…"

"Only she saw it, right? It's not uncommon for death tolls and casualty counts to be exaggerated…"

"Even so, the description of wiping out an entire wing of the Royal Army with one spell means over 80'000 deaths. And then there's the hideous monsters summoned from those sacrifices…"

"I can't deny what she's seen any more. This is magic of the gods. 11th tier magic, I believe? That should be it."

"The advent of the gods."

"What's written here is similar to the description of that god… is it possible He has descended from the heavens once more?"

"Impossible. The oral traditions state that the God of Death, Surshana-sama, was slain by the damnable Eight Greed must be something else. And if Surshana-sama had actually descended once more, that person would surely have told us. After all, that person is Surshana-sama's first follower."

"Then, it's come at last?'

"Probably, yes. After 200 years."

"It should be correct, judging by the oral traditions. It might appear somewhere on the continent."

"Their national power increased so slowly because those piles of trash messed up so much of the plan."

"Those idiots in the Kingdom…"

Everyone had looks of hatred in their eyes as they heard those words.

The Kingdom was the most geographically secure country of all. It was for that reason the Slane Theocracy assisted them, in hopes that the Kingdom would become the nation which would save mankind. By breeding large populations of humans on safe and fertile land, many talented individuals who could be groomed into heroes and resist non-human invasions would appear.

However, peace and prosperity had bred degeneracy, and the Kingdom rotted from within. Even more troubling was how they produced narcotics and exported them to the other promising country, the Empire.

Thus, the Theocracy had changed their plan.

Their backup plan was to allow the Empire to devour the Kingdom, and then educate the talented individuals of the Empire. The reason why the Theocracy did not conquer the Kingdom themselves was because they would then be neighbors to the Republic, which might foster a dangerous movement in their people to destroy the Republic.

The basic tenet of the Theocracy was that humanity was chosen by the gods. All other races were to be exterminated.

Thus, they inculcated an attitude in the people that they were surrounded by enemies and that they had no choice but to work together. This was the only way they could focus their national power and become a strong country. However, if they became neighbors with the Republic, there was a chance that their very philosophy might herd them towards a dangerous direction.

Everyone here understood that charting the future of the Theocracy hinged on knowing the strength of their country, the strength of the others, and the matters to prioritize. However, the citizens would shout for war with the Republic in a crusade against the enemies of mankind.

That would be disastrous. The Republic was very strong.

To be precise, the danger lay with one of the councilors of the Republic, the Platinum Dragon Lord and child of the Dragon Emperor. If they did battle with him, the mightiest of the Dragon Lords, they ran the risk of their country being reduced to scorched earth.

But what of the people who were ignorant of that? What would they think?

They would see vermin to crush, yet all they could do was bite their nails and wait.

Of course, everyone here could easily quash such resentment through force, but the backlash from that would weaken their national power. In addition, there was a real possibility that war might break out anyway.

Thus, the Theocracy could not share a border with the Republic, nor could they directly control the Kingdom. Even if they wanted to rule from the shadows, the Kingdom was too large.

"Let's consider the Sorcerer King first. To begin with, he should have been the one who destroyed the Sunlight Scripture, some time back."

The air seemed to crackle and freeze.

"A magic caster with that name appeared in a nearby village with that name at almost the same time. I don't think we're mistaken, are we?"

"What about the vampire that the Black Scripture encountered, Honyopenyoko? A minion of the Sorcerer King?"

"It's very possible, but I think it's more likely that it was a being on the same level as the Sorcerer King, just like those people. Otherwise there's no way to explain that power."

"Indeed, so since we're on the topic of multiple appearances, Jaldabaoth ought to be such a being, right? That would explain the power he wielded in the Kingdom, as well as the reason for a monster with that sort of power appearing all of a sudden."

"Then how about Momon?"

Momon the Black. A warrior in black full-plate that wielded twin greatswords and the leader of Darkness, the Re-Estize Kingdom's third adamantite ranked adventurer party. He stood against Jaldabaoth, who turned part of the Kingdom into a pyre of hell, and Honyopenyoko, the vampire strong enough to kill a member of the Black Scripture in one hit.

"Could he be an awakened God-kin? That would also explain why he was as strong as Jaldabaoth. The question is whether or not he's truly an ally to the Sorcerer King…"

On the first day of the Sorcerer King's rule over E-Rantel, a small child had thrown a rock towards that undead ruler. Just as the boy was about to be executed, Momon had stepped in the way. But in order to protect the people of E-Rantel, Momon had agreed to serve under the Sorcerer King as his enforcer. In effect, he was collateral exchanged for a reign of peace.

"We need to think about making contact with him, find out where his loyalties lie, and then pull him over to our side."

Everyone else nodded. If Momon was truly a God-kin, they had to win him over by any means necessary. In the Theocracy, the God-kin were considered demigods who carried the bloodline of the Six Gods within their veins. Even if they had the blood of others, the beings known as 'players', each God-kin possessed incredible power and could be considered a national treasure.

With the Kingdom as rotten as it is and the Empire's allegiances in doubt, the Theocracy now had to seriously consider how to cut Momon away from the strings of the Sorcerer King.

"What if we used the people of E-Rantel? If we incite a revolt, we could-"

"That's dangerous, far too dangerous! If it goes poorly, we'll make an enemy of Momon and the Sorcerer King at the same time!"

"You're right. As it is, we've taken considerable losses. We need to avoid opening up two fronts at the same time."

"Then what if sent a request through the Adventurer's Guild? We could fabricate a scenario that only Momon could tackle and use our agents in the Clearwater Scripture to deliver the details to E-Rantel."

"That's assuming the Guild still even exists by the time the request arrives. You do remember that the Sorcerous Kingdom is using Death Knights as patrols, yes? I bet there hasn't been a new request since the Sorcerer King took power!"

"But then again, Momon is still around. I doubt that the Guild would disband as long as that legendary hero remains in E-Rantel."

There were murmurs in agreement. It was unthinkable for the Adventurer's Guild of a city which housed an adamantite ranked adventurer to disband, at least not in a fortnight. At the minimum, the shell should still be around.

"That's a good point, but what if the Sorcerous Kingdom annexes the Adventurer's Guild? The Guild normally operates under a pretense of neutrality, but the Sorcerous Kingdom might not respect that."

Adventurers were like specialized monster hunters. That being the case, the majority of requests came down to patrolling an area or acting as porters. Without adventurers, human nations would be vulnerable to the various monsters and demi-humans that roamed the continent. Thus, the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Slane Theocracy chose to acknowledge the Adventurer's Guild as a neutral entity.

However, that was only the case when guards, who were hired by the government, were weak in comparison. In the Sorcerous Kingdom, Death Knights served as guards, meaning that the nation could provide security against monsters on its own. Thus, there was no need to commission adventurers to take care of them.

This meant that in the Sorcerous Kingdom, the precarious balance between the Adventurer's Guild and the national government was now heavily tipped in favor of the government. There was no longer a problem with antagonizing the Guild, and even assimilation was on the table.

"Muuu… That's true. If the Sorcerous Kingdom does nationalize the Guild, then they could intercept our request before it arrives."

"That would be extremely bad. If we aren't careful, that request could become a casus belli for the Sorcerous Kingdom to invade us!"

Nobody could refute that. Just as the proposal seemed to have been shot down-

"-It will be fine."

Raymond smiled. The others turned their heads and waited for him to continue.

"The key point here is that, yes, the Sorcerous Kingdom can come calling. But, couldn't Momon be considered a part of the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

Understanding dawned on the Cardinal of Water, Ginedine Delan Gwerfe.

"I see… I see, I see! It's simple, we incorporate that into the request. If we make no attempt to hide the request and deliver it straight to the Sorcerous Kingdom's doorstep, we can directly request Momon without it appearing as subterfuge. They can't refuse it either because Momon is officially a subordinate of Sorcerer King. In other words, he has a responsibility to pass along the message."

"Yes… And if they try to send over anyone else, we can refuse by citing Momon's previous feats as proof of his prowess and say no one else will do."

"But wouldn't that mean we'd technically be indebted to the Sorcerous Kingdom? There's no telling what the people will think of that!"

"That's why we have our Adventurer's Guild serve as the messenger. Since the Guild is a neutral political entity, there will be no problems if we write it off as an international request between Guilds."

"Yes, that is an excellent proposal. Then that leaves on question on the table- what should the request be?"

Raymond looked towards his fellows. All of them were at a loss. That was because Momon's feats were easily beyond the realm of mortals and were the stuff of legends. He had tamed the Wise King of the Forest, slew a Gigant Basilisk, destroyed the vampire, and stood against Jaldabaoth.

And now the Theocracy had to prepare a task worthy of these accomplishments, lest Momon pass on the request and send it to another adamantite ranked party.

Thus, whatever task the Theocracy prepared had to be dangerous enough to deter any party that wasn't Darkness but at the same time accomplishable by Darkness alone. It would a disaster if the Sorcerous Kingdom responded with, _You seem like you're in quite the pickle, allow us to assist_ , and then sent over 200 Death Knights.

Then there was the matter of remuneration. In order to make the request as attractive as possible, it went without question the reward would have to be exorbitant. However, it would be too conspicuous if they offered enough gold to build a city. It would have to be subtler.

The Grand Marshal looked around at his compatriots, before he finally spoke-

"…I think I have an idea. It will take some preparation, but I'm confident I can have it arranged."


	2. The Cornered Ainz

Ishpen worked as the receptionist for the Adventurer's Guild of E-Rantel. Just a month ago, the Guild had been a desolate space unvisited since the day the city was annexed by the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Back then, Ishpen's duties had gone from processing requests to struggling against boredom.

She had never been anxious about her job, except maybe when she was still a trainee. Now though, she was a veteran of countless battlefields, who had seen combat against endless hordes of uninformed adventurers and stupid questions.

It was for that reason Ishpen felt more at ease when she had something to do than when she was just idling about. At that time, she had prayed to the Gods to send someone, anyone, to come break the monotony.

And then, the Sorcerer King had appeared and announced his grand plans to assimilate the Adventurer's Guild.

She didn't know what magic the Sorcerer King had worked, but today, the Guild was practically swarming with recruits, most of which were immigrants from the Empire. Because they were all new recruits, Ishpen had her hands full the whole week just processing registration forms. There wasn't a single noteworthy face among them, and Ishpen was at her wit's end just trying to remember their names. At that time, she had prayed for a familiar face to come break the monotony.

And then, one of the Empire's Four Knights, Leinas "Heavy Explosion" Rockbruise had appeared to become an Adventurer.

"What do I have to do to see the His Majesty!? Is there a minimum rank I have to achieve!? What rank is that!? Mythril!? Orichalcum!?"

While the right side of her face was covered by her hair, her left eye was crazed and bloodshot. She was very adamant about seeking an audience with His Majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown.

Unfortunately, Ishpen had no answers to her questions.

"I-I'm very sorry, but we have no regulations w-which specify whether someone can seek an audience with H-His Majesty. And—as for your rank, y-you'll have to begin from the lowest rank, copper—"

"Can't you do something about it!?"

"I-I'm very sorry, but I'm just a receptionist!"

Leinas narrowed her eyes.

"I want to see the Guildmaster."

"I can a-ask if he's available if you'd like—but we should really finish the registration process before that! C-Can I ask you to brush aside your hair—"

" _I want to see the Guildmaster!_ "

Back then, Ishpen had been exasperated by the situation. She barely even remembered how the Guildmaster had managed to resolve it.

Although it was shocking that one of the Empire's Four Knights had come to the E-Rantel, it did nothing to break the monotony. In the end, registration was still registration, even for someone as famous as Leinas.

Her work wasn't arduous. It was just tedious.

And even though the Guild was bustling with recruits, it still didn't change the fact that there weren't any new requests to be done. In that sense, it was baffling how the Adventurer's Guild in E-Rantel had come to acquire stupendous surplus of manpower.

Before long, Ishpen was fondly remembering the days she spent bamboozled by handwriting and sorting out payment, a change of pace if not enjoyable. At that time, she had prayed for someone to submit a request.

And then, the Adventurer's Guild of the Slane Theocracy had sent over a notice requesting Momon for his assistance in exploring the Sunken City of Atlanta. Not long after, Momon arrived to speak with the Guildmaster.

At that time, she had prayed for 5000 gold pieces.

And then, a strange girl in a mask who was also on fire crashed into her house, and she spent the subsequent nights being bitten by winter's frost, until she scraped up enough money to repair the roof.

Ishpen was very careful about her prayers from then on.

* * *

Momon sat in the Guildmaster's—Pluton Ainzach's office, together with the former head of the now-defunct Magician's Guild, Theo Rakesheer. They came here to discuss one thing- the nature of the request for Momon to explore the Sunken City of Atlanta.

Normally, Ainz would have gone over the details with Albedo or Demiurge before meeting with Ainzach. However, this time it was impossible—after all, Ainz was avoiding them while they were making preparations in the Holy Kingdom and sorting out the vassalization process for the Empire.

If Ainz encountered either of the two before those was finished, they might ask him for guidance or to clarify his intentions.

That would be very bad. After all, Ainz had no idea what was going on.

It was a fundamental facet of management for project leaders to coordinate with their subordinates. After all, when it came time to decide the project's future direction, it was imperative for supervisors be aware of what work was already taking place. That way, they could make an informed decision and try to steer the project towards the best possible outcome.

Ideally, superiors would always stay in the know—but what if they ended up in a situation where they weren't?

Common sense dictates that they should admit their mistake so that they can catch up as quickly as possible. But exposing that ignorance meant that their subordinates would invariably lose trust in their leader's judgement.

Ainz knew that his actions were irresponsible, but he couldn't risk the image he built up in the minds of the NPCs. He would just wait until they put their proposals on paper, after which he can give them a quick once-over and then go, _Good work_ , and leave it at that.

Until then, Ainz had make do on his own, which included the request from the Theocracy's Adventurer's Guild. However, despite the NPCs' image of him, Ainz was just a normal person. There was no way he could make important decisions on his own and expect them work out. He would have to counsel with someone else.

That was why he had settled on the alternative—namely, this meeting.

Ainzach cleared his throat before turning to Momon.

"Momon-kun, what do you know about the Sunken City of Atlanta?"

"I'm afraid I haven't heard of it where I come from. Please enlighten me."

It was probably somewhere in Sebas' reports, but Ainz had missed it.

 _It couldn't be helped, I was too busy._

Ainz complained in his heart, even as he knew he was in the wrong.

"Well, most of what I know is only hearsay after all… I think Theo can speak more on this topic than I can."

"Not much more, but I'll do my best. Then, Momon-dono. Back when we met about Hon- Honyokopen- whatever, the vampire—You showed us that spell sealing crystal which contained 8th tier magic."

Momon did not acknowledge it. After all, if he did, he would remember how—

"Anyway! You said that you found that crystal in some ruins. In truth, I thought that those ruins might have been that of the Sunken City. Of course, from your reaction just now I know that isn't the case. But even so- the rumors say that artifacts pertaining to the God of Water and his disciples can be found in that city."

Ainzach nodded.

"Which explains why the Slane Theocracy is so interested in the city."

"Still, it's one of the more obscure legends circulating these days. It was said that the Eight Greed Kings, while trying to conquer the continent, tried to pillage Atlanta, but as a last resort King Neptune sunk the city to the bottom of the Atlantic Sea."

"Mmm… Is that so."

Ainz scratched his chin as he digested the information.

Atlantic Sea? Back in the world of Suzuki Satoru, there had been an Atlantic Ocean, but in this world it was the name of a sea? And what's with the name Atlanta? In Yggdrasil, there had been an underwater dungeon named after the lost island nation of Atlantis. Legend has it that it sunk into the Atlantic Ocean after falling out of favor with the Greek God Neptune.

However, on 2ch, players nicknamed the dungeon 'Atlanta' after a real-life city which sunk into the Atlantic due to politicians who adamantly denied the existence of global warming. Incidentally, those same politicians were the reason why a famous amusement park which featured attractions based off of an Atlantis ruled by 'King Neptune' ended up becoming a swamp. Either way, this naming sense was a dead giveaway that the Six Gods were probably players.

Ainz lavished praise onto his past self for his quick thinking, choosing to change to Honyopenyoto instead of blurting out Carmilla.

"So where exactly is the Atlantic Sea located?"

"It's just to the east of the Slane Theocracy and divides them from the Draconic Kingdom. Because of that, the Theocracy's Guild wants Momon-kun to come to their nation first and hear the details before accepting."

"Then shouldn't I refuse? After all, the Slane Theocracy is a nation of human supremacists. They might try enlist me in an international incident with the Draconic Kingdom."

"I feel that your concerns are well founded, Momon-dono. It's true that the Theocracy despises non-humans and that the Draconic Kingdom is ruled by a Dragon Lord. However, the truth is that the Draconic Kingdom is almost entirely a human nation. The Slane Theocracy might not explicitly support the Kingdom, but they count that nation as part of their responsibility to defend."

Ainzach nodded again.

"Yes, especially when you consider the beastmen tribes that border the Draconic Kingdom from the east. One could say that the Draconic Kingdom is the first line of defense from the beastmen which consider humanity food."

"I see…"

Momon crossed him arms. He was still apprehensive about something.

"But there are still a number of unknown factors at work here. For example, the reward."

In the request sent by the Theocracy, the terms state that if Momon were to accept this request, he would be entitled to 20% of the proceedings earned from exploring the city plus a flat payment which includes travel fees. Furthermore, Momon would have first pick from any valuables they discover.

This was an extremely attractive proposal, one whose payoff ranged anywhere from highly lucrative to uncovering a legendary artifact for which Momon had priority.

"Momon-dono, I mean it when I say that this offer is once-in-a-lifetime! If you go to the Sunken City, you may very well find—"

Rakesheer gulped.

"—A spell sealing crystal containing 8th tier magic."

He might have seemed cool right there, but anything to that effect was entirely overshadowed by the image of him licking that same spell sealing crystal and mashing it to his face. Ainzach suppressed another groan, though this time he at least agreed with what Rakesheer was saying. Rakesheer who seemed to pick up on this turned slightly red.

"A-Ahem. In any case, I think that this deal may not just be profitable, it could be critical to Momon-dono's future success."

Ainz had no idea what Rakesheer was talking about but nodded anyway. If it was about something he genuinely had no knowledge of, he could admit his ignorance. But if the details had already been explained to him, there's no way he just could say, _Sensei, I don't understand, can you please spell it out to me_ , without tarnishing his image.

"What exactly do you mean by that Theo?"

Ainzach asked Rakesheer openly. Ainz added another sticker under Ainzach's name on the 'Employee of the Month' board hidden in his heart. Incidentally, the top performer was usually Demiurge, but he had fallen behind this month after he left Ainz in the dark about what Ainz was planning in the Dwarven Kingdom.

"Think back, Pluton. Momon-dono was forced to crack the spelling sealing crystal that was his trump card to defeat the vampire. But he also said that the vampire had a companion. Even if the other vampire is weaker, there's a good chance that it's still extremely strong. In that case, Momon-dono would want a secret weapon as insurance."

Indeed, even if Honyopenyoko's companion was the weaker of the two, it would still prove powerful enough to warrant an adamantite plate party just to combat it. Though it might have been unfair to compare Darkness to the other adamantite adventurers out there, if one had to choose between fighting the vampire with a spell sealing crystal or without, there should be no hesitation in selecting the former.

 _Muu_ , Ainzach went in approval while cupping his hand under his chin.

At the same time however, it seemed as if Ainz was petrified down to the bone.

 _Crap! That's right, I told them Shalltear had a companion!_

He had completely forgotten. Worse still, he had nodded to Rakesheer when he proposed his idea. In other words, Ainz had already informally agreed with this idea and all the assumptions that came along with it. In other words, he could no longer say, _No, actually I have another one_ , and refuse that way.

 _Please, just let it go already. I only said that so that they wouldn't be suspicious when I didn't leave._

Ainz felt like his options were being slowly being closed off, until he would have no choice but to accept the request.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing though. Since it was all but confirmed that the Six Gods were players, going to the Sunken City of Atlanta could yield critical information about their influence in this world.

In addition, it roused his collector's spirit.

In Yggdrasil, lost cities and hidden dungeons were all wellsprings of rare drops and unique items. Of course, there was no guarantee that in this world ancient ruins would house items worthy of Ainz's time.

But even so, there was bound to be something.

That something could be anything from conclusive evidence about the nature of the Six Gods to a clue about his former guild mates.

As his hope rose to its peak, Ainz was about to accept when his emotion override kicked in. If he had a tongue, he would have clicked it out of annoyance.

However, in retrospect, it was a good thing it did activate.

He was about to come to a hasty decision, when there was still a wealth of questions left unanswered.

For now, it would be best to stay consistent. And in any case, if he actually said he had another one of those spell sealing crystals, Rakesheer would probably be two steps in to the realm of insanity.

"I agree with Rakesheer-san. Appearances all considered, this seems to be a favorable request."

Ainz ignored Ainzach who was muttering 'favorable' under his breath.

"However, what about the other factors? Like the requester. Why would he go out of his way to recruit an adventurer from another country?"

"That's explained in the request. The person who's requesting you is an orichalcum ranked adventurer who goes by the name Kentarou Orbeck. Apparently a long time ago, the Orbecks were once royalty and Orbeck-san carries on that bloodline. It says here he was the one who discovered the entrance to the Sunken City, so by guild regulations he has been given a limited amount of time to explore it."

 _…_ _Hm? Somehow, all of this sounds familiar._

"In his words, he wrote, 'Momon-sama is renowned for his unmatched prowess even in the Theocracy. There is no adventurer party other than Darkness to whom I could whole-heartedly entrust my safety'. And that's how it is."

Ainz was desperately trying to recall exactly where he had heard something along the same lines before it finally hit him.

 _Isn't this exactly what I did in the Empire!?_

He had hired a bunch of workers, essentially unsavory adventurers, to invade the Great Tomb of Nazarick in order to use them as leverage and demand reparations. Ainz could feel the exact same scenario creeping up on him from this request.

Now he knew he had to reject this request somehow! Otherwise, it would be very bad if Ainz got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and was punished for it. Thus, Ainz crossed his arms and declared—

"That's too suspicious."

Ainzach and Rakesheer gawked at Momon in confusion.

"Sorry, Momon-dono. Can you please explain why you think this request is suspicious? I can't find any holes in this explanation."

 _Huhuhu_ , Ainz went as if he actually had a presentable reason for rejecting this request. Naturally, it was to stall for time.

"It's simple. Just because—"

Ainz immediately cut himself off. He was about to say, _Just because you can't poke holes through a story on the surface doesn't mean there aren't any underneath_. However, he realized partway through that the same advice could be applied to his own stories. It would be extremely bad if telling them that prompted them to dig deeper into Momon's background and led to his exposure as Ainz Ooal Gown. He pretended to have a severe coughing fit, thinking as fast as he could for something else to say.

"M-Momon-kun!? Are you alright!?"

"Yes! Yes, I am perfectly fine Guildmaster. I just bit my tongue is all."

Why anyone would have a coughing fit because they bit their tongue was beyond Ainz, as it seemed to be for Ainzach and Rakesheer as well. However, he had to roll with it.

"What I was going to say is that just because we discovered a lost city doesn't mean that there's no one living in it. We have to make sure that we aren't intruding on anyone's home, or worse, a foreign country."

Ainzach narrowed an eye.

"That's… true, but in that case, you need only check if anyone is living in the city and if you still have reservations, you could just refuse to enter and just return the payment."

Ainz felt as if he had just bowled a gutter ball.

Ainzach was right. Even if the situation was similar, all he needed to do was refuse to enter if it seemed like someone was actually living there or if it looked like a trap. And if there actually was someone living there but they did not make their presence known, then he could just rebuke that the other party was at fault for not revealing themselves earlier. Just because the set-up was the same didn't mean that he had to act the part.

"…Pluton, I think Momon-dono might have a point. If someone is living in a sunken city at the bottom of the Atlantic, they might not have just spell sealing crystals containing 8th tier spells. They might even be able to use those 8th tier spells and turn them on humanity! If that happened, even Momon-dono wouldn't be able to escape unscathed."

"I didn't think of that, Theo. As expected of Momon-kun. Your keen insight runs far deeper than my own."

"W-Well, don't mind that. Your insights are on par with mine. After all, Rakesheer-san realized that without any information about the Sunken City, we could be met with anything, even an ancient civilization."

"Momon-dono, you are too humble. I only managed to deduce that thanks to you."

"Without any information… an ancient civilization…"

Something seemed to click in Ainzach's brain.

"…I see! You're absolutely right Momon-kun. I should have realized it earlier. You want to consult about this with him!"

 _Him? Who's him?_

Just as Momon was going to complain, Rakesheer seemed to have a similar epiphany.

"…Yes, I understand as well. Why didn't we think of it earlier?"

Ainz cursed under his breath as he missed the timing to question Ainzach. Now all he could do was magnanimously nod and say—

"Umu. So you've seen through me."

"Momon-dono, you don't need to be secretive about it anymore. To tell you the truth, we've come around to him as well since that incident."

Ainzach glanced at a sword plastered on the wall and clasped his hands together.

"Yes… I'm almost ashamed to have harbored doubts about him now that I've actually spoken with him. I must say, I am in awe of Momon-kun's impartial foresight. To think the words you spoke that day would actually come to pass."

 _That's all well and good, but who are we talking about here again?_

Ainz racked his imaginary brain for answers, but nobody came to mind.

"Well then, I am in agreement with Momon-dono. We should ask His Majesty if he knows anything about the Sunken City of Atlanta!"

Ainz furrowed his illusionary eyebrows.

 _His Majesty? Jircniv- Wait, he's talking about me!_

At the same time, Ainzach smiled and patted Momon on the back.

"Yes, the Sorcerer King has lived for Gods know how long. Surely he would possess lost knowledge about the Sunken City! It was such a simple solution that it never occurred to me. Truly, Momon-kun's greatest virtue might be how he retains his sensibility even in the face of what appear to be a fathomless problem."

"P-Please, like you said, I'm just being pragmatic…"

Momon struggled to keep his voice even. Of course he didn't think of consulting His Majesty. After all, that was himself! What kind of schizophrenic would think of consulting with himself? It's not like Ainz and Momon were separate personalities that had to meet ever Monday to share information with each other.

Well, at least that was true, until he had Pandora's Actor play the role of Momon while Ainz attended to his kingly duties.

But this situation presented a serious problem for Ainz. First, Ainzach and Rakesheer now consider the problem to be effectively on hold. They would no longer be contributing to the remainder of this discussion. Second, they expect the Sorcerer King; that is, Ainz himself; to know something about the Sunken City of Atlanta. Third, they think Momon came up with the idea to ask Ainz. Thus, if Ainz denied any knowledge about the Sunken City, it would make Momon look bad, and if Momon decided not to speak with Ainz, then it would look like Momon was doubting Ainz's wisdom.

If word got out that the Dark Hero did not value the wisdom of the Sorcerer King, it may serve as an impetus for other people, like the citizens of the Sorcerous Kingdom, to doubt his wisdom.

And if even humans were doubting Ainz's wisdom, then the NPC's would get suspicious and start questioning him as well.

Thus, Ainz had no choice but to meet with himself, somehow produce tangible information they could use, and then come to a conclusion on his own. Otherwise, Ainzach and Rakesheer might doubt the Sorcerer King's abilities anyway.

In essence, Ainz was on his own from here on out.


End file.
